Wayne Allyn Root, a Las Vegas oddsmaker by profession and now the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee, breezed into the St. Louis area today as part of a two-day swing through the state to raise money and his ticket’s profile.

Root is the running mate of Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr, who like Root is a former Republican. And as Root observes, both have “big mouths” and love to talk to the press about their politics and their campaign.

But it’s doubtful that Barr can beat out Root’s one-liners, aimed at promoting his party’s philosophy of less government — on the fiscal and personal side.

Asked Root as he drank bottled water at a Clayton restaurant: “What’s the difference between Las Vegas and Washington D.C.?

“In Vegas, the drunks gamble with their own money!” Root chortled, his laughter filling the restaurant.

Democrats promise personal freedom, but offer no economic freedom, Root said, while Republicans favor economic freedom but “you get no personal freedom.”

“To me, it’s two horrible choices…Big and bigger government, dumb and dumber!”

Root said that Nevada offers the best example of what works best. There’s few taxes, and lots of personal freedom. Legalized gambling and prostitution helps provide the income needed to pay for the services that all Nevadans — religious or secular — enjoy, he said.

But as a small businessman, Root says he’s feeling the nation’s economic downtown — just like many others in Las Vegas and around the country, he said.

Root said he also has something in common with social conservatives, because he and his wife home-school their four children.

Root says that he and Barr have the goal of reaching Ross Perot’s high mark for an independent candidate, snagging 19 million votes in 1992.

With polls now showing Barr with the support of six percent of this fall’s likely voters, he and Root are hoping they can reach 15 percent — enough to get them into the presidential debates this fall.

If they succeed, Root says that means he could find himself back in St. Louis for the vice presidential debate at Washington University on Oct. 2.